Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Hospital News Roundup for November 9, 2007

Doctors Medical Center has reached a three-year contract agreement with the California Nurses Association, hospital officials said Monday, the San Francisco Business Times reports.

The contract includes an average annual wage increase of 6.96%, as well as patient care and worker safety provisions, according to union officials. The agreement also increases pensions and guarantees continued union representation if the hospital is sold or transfers assets (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 11/6).

Kaiser Permanente, Anaheim

On Tuesday, the Anaheim City Council approved the first stage of plans for a new Kaiser Permanente hospital to replace the current facility, the Orange County Register reports.

The $750 million project, expected to finish no later than 2013, includes two hospital towers and three medical office buildings, according to a Kaiser spokesperson. The new hospital also will add 262 beds, with plans to add 98 more by 2025.

The current 174-bed facility will close when the new hospital is ready to open (Townsend/Tully, Orange County Register, 11/6).

Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center is considering converting a nearby motel building into a facility for administrative and other nonpatient offices, the San Francisco Examiner reports.

Meg Walker, a Kaiser spokesperson, said the main Kaiser facility in South San Francisco has limited space.

The expansion plan has been submitted to the city Planning Commission, which is expected to make a decision within the next two months, according to the Examiner (Vasilyuk, San Francisco Examiner, 11/5).

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center has opened the first clinic in the U.S. to research and treat Chagas disease, a parasitic illness from Latin America that is becoming increasingly prevalent among immigrant communities in the U.S., the Los Angeles Times reports.

Chagas is transmitted by insects, and can also pass from mother to child at birth and through blood or organ transfusions. About eight million to 11 million people in Latin America are infected with the illness, which is the leading cause of heart failure in the region, according to CDC data.

Researchers at the medical center hope to find ways to block the progression of the disease to heart failure, Sheba Meymandi, director of the new clinic, said (Engel, Los Angeles Times, 11/6).

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a 101-bed expansion project for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, the Times reports.

The project did not receive the 10 votes necessary to require an environmental impact report. The vote came one day after a coalition of community groups threatened to file suit if the project was approved without the report (Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 11/8).

An environmental impact report could delay the expansion project by two years, according to hospital officials.

Valley Health System is faced with financial cuts after voters in the hospital district defeated a ballot measure Tuesday that would have approved its $135 million sale and privatization, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

The hospital district operates:

Hemet Valley Medical Center;

Menifee Valley Medical Center; and

Moreno Valley Community Hospital.

A public vote is necessary to approve the sale of more than half of a hospital district's assets. As a result of the defeat, Valley Health board members are now considering possible cuts in hospital services and staff (Atienza, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 11/8).
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